Mankatha

Mankatha is a 2011 Indian Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It features Ajith Kumar in the lead role, starring in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra and Anjali. It was produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies while Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the musical score and soundtrack,
with Sakthi Saravanan working as the cinematographer and the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth as editors. The story, set in Mumbai, revolves around a heist of cricket betting money, executed by a gang of four thieves, who are joined by a fifth unknown man, and its aftermaths.

The film was formally launched in August 2010, with its principal photography beginning on 25 October 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and Bangkok, Thailand. Following speculations regarding the film's release, Sun Pictures acquired the theatrical rights and distributed the film via Raadhika Sarathkumar's Radaan Mediaworks. Mankatha released on 31 August 2011 worldwide to generally positive reviews and grossed the second biggest opening of all time after Endhiran at the time of release. The film was declared an "All-Time Blockbuster" at the end of its theaterical run. The film was also dubbed into Telugu as Gambler and released in Andhra Pradesh ten days later while it was a box-office hit in Kerala as well.

Mankatha
Promotional poster
Directed by	Venkat Prabhu
Produced by	Dhayanidhi Alagiri Vivek Rathnavel
Written by	Venkat Prabhu
Screenplay by	Venkat Prabhu
Story by	Venkat Prabhu
Starring	Ajith Kumar Arjun Sarja Trisha Krishnan Lakshmi Rai Andrea Jeremiah Anjali Premji Amaren
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography	Sakthi Saravanan
Edited by	Praveen K. L. N. B. Srikanth
Production company	Cloud Nine Movies
Distributed by	Sun Pictures Radaan Mediaworks Ayngaran International (United Kingdom) FiveStar (Malaysia) Sri Sai Ganesh Productions (Telugu)
Release date(s)	31 August 2011 (Tamil) 9 September 2011 (Telugu)
Running time	160 minutes